Method and apparatus for broadcast information transmission

ABSTRACT

Internet, voice calls, and messaging services have become ubiquitous and the means by which the services are accessed varies widely. The number and types of devices that may use these services have also proliferated. To serve a number and variety of client devices, a mobile Hotspot may be used, which is a device that may include a modem for mobile broadband access and a short range wireless link to distribute the services to local devices which may have such connectivity. Power consumption of battery powered client devices is an important consideration. A method and apparatus are disclosed that enable a client device to receive broadcast information about the mobile networks from a mobile Hotspot over a short range wireless link which may reduce power consumption of client devices.

BACKGROUND

Internet access is becoming ubiquitous and the means by which the accessis obtained varies widely. For example, the internet access may bethrough a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), a cable modem, a fiber opticnetwork, a wireless communication network, etc. When the internetservice provides high data rates it is often referred to as broadbandinternet service. Broadband internet service is generally understood tobe a service that is always on and offers data rates in the order ofmega-bits per second for both download and upload.

A client device as defined in the present disclosure is a device thatmay access the internet from one or more of the sources from which theinternet service may be available. Such client devices may includeconventional devices such as a smartphone, a tablet, a feature-phone, alaptop or a desktop personal computer, etc. Other client devices mayinclude devices that are embedded within devices that perform otherfunctions such as an entertainment system in a home or in an automobile,a home appliance such as a refrigerator or washer/dryer, a wristwatchwith a heart rate monitor, a medical device such as a blood pressuremeter or insulin sensor, a utility meter, a gaming console, a camera, anavigation device, an industrial equipment, etc. These types of devicesare collectively referred herein as machine type client devices.

These diverse types of client devices may access the internet servicedirectly through one of the sources of primary internet access mentionedearlier. Alternatively, the client devices may access the internetthrough a local network that performs distribution of the primaryinternet access to the users localized in a given area. Examples of suchlocal networks include Local Area Network (LAN) using Ethernet, WirelessLAN (WLAN) commonly known as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth™, or some other local areanetworking schemes. Such short range wireless networks are referredherein as Short Range Wireless Links (SRWL). When a client device is inthe proximity of a location where such a SRWL access is available, itmay access the internet using the SRWL. FIG. 1 illustrates an examplescenario of client devices accessing internet over a WLAN SRWL, which isconnected to a traditional wire-line internet service such as DSL orcable modem. The local area where WLAN service is available is oftenreferred to as Hotspot. The device that offers the WLAN service in agiven local area is referred to as an Access Point (AP). In the presentdisclosure, the terms Hotspot AP or Hotspot are used interchangeably torefer to the device that offers the WLAN service in a given local area.

A Hotspot AP may be connected to DSL or cable modem through any of thestandardized interfaces such as Universal Serial Bus (USB), Ethernet, orproprietary interfaces. In some cases, the DSL or cable modem and theHotspot AP may be part of a single physical device. In such cases theinterface between the DSL or cable modem and AP may use Secure DigitalInput Output (SDIO) or other suitable interface.

Client devices may also obtain internet access over mobile wirelesscommunication networks. These mobile wireless networks are oftenreferred to as Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN). The internet serviceoffered by such networks is often referred to as mobile broadbandinternet or Mobile Broadband (MB) and the mobile wireless networks areoften referred to as mobile broadband networks. The terms WWAN and MBare used interchangeably herein.

As the variety of client devices has increased and the demand for MBaccess has increased, a device known as a mobile Hotspot is commonlyused. A mobile Hotspot device may include both a modem for MB access anda WLAN AP (Hotspot AP) to distribute the internet to local clientdevices. FIG. 2 illustrates the block diagram of an example mobileHotspot device. As shown in FIG. 2, for the chosen example, the MB modemand the Hotspot AP may be connected to each other via one of thestandard interfaces used in the industry such as USB, SDIO, orproprietary interfaces. In another mobile Hotspot example, the MB modemand the WLAN AP may be a single Integrated Circuit (IC) as shown in FIG.3.

Some mobile Hotspot devices may serve as a single function device, i.e.,they only perform the mobile Hotspot function. Such mobile Hotspots maytake many different form factors such as a mobile Hotspot integratedinto an automobile, a standalone device that can be carried around withor without a battery, integrated into an accessory device for a tablet,a standalone device that can be powered by a wall outlet, etc.

Some client devices have multiple capabilities and being a Hotspot isone of the capabilities. For example, a smartphone may have a mobilebroadband modem that may be used to get mobile internet service directlyfrom the mobile broadband network as illustrated in FIG. 4. The flow ofdata is as shown in FIG. 4 from the mobile broadband modem to theapplication processor that processes the download and upload data andinteracts with the user via the display and other elements of the userinterface such as audio, vibration, etc. The smartphone may also have aWLAN modem to access internet service over a Hotspot AP. When it is inthe vicinity of a Hotspot AP, it may use internet service from theHotspot as illustrated in FIG. 1. In another smartphone example, themobile broadband modem, the WLAN AP and the Application Processor may beintegrated into a single Integrated Circuit (IC) as shown in FIG. 5.

A smartphone may also serve as a mobile Hotspot to provide internetservice over WLAN to other client devices in its vicinity. FIG. 6illustrates an example scenario where the smartphone serves as a mobileHotspot and provides internet service to a machine type client devicewhich may have only a WLAN access. In another smartphone mobile Hotspotexample, the mobile broadband modem, the WLAN AP and the ApplicationProcessor may be integrated into a single IC as shown in FIG. 7.

An example of a mobile broadband network is the Long Term Evolution(LTE) from the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The LTEtechnology and its evolution are often referred to as fourth generation(4G) technologies. A client device may also use any of the previousgeneration technologies such as “2G”, “3G” from 3GPP and otherstandardization bodies. A client device may also use future generationtechnologies for Hotspot, mobile Hotspot, and mobile networks.

Although a Hotspot or mobile Hotspot may be able to obtain internetservice and distribute it to multiple client devices in a given localarea, it may not be able to provide other key services that userscommonly use. For example, voice calls and SMS based text messagingremain two of the most commonly used applications in client devices. Aclient device accessing internet through a Hotspot or mobile Hotspot maystill be receiving voice calls or SMS based text messages directlythrough the WWAN as illustrated in FIG. 8. Four interconnected networksare shown in FIG. 8: Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) 802, WWAN804, internet 806, and WLAN (Hotspot) 808. The PSTN is connected to theWWAN through the interface 820 and to the internet through the interface822. The WWAN and internet are connected through the interface 818. TheCable modem 812 is connected to the internet through the interface 824.These interfaces may use open industry standards or may use proprietarystandards. The Hotspot, in the present example, is connected to theinternet using a Cable modem interface. In the present example, theSmartphone 811 is connected to the Hotspot Access Point 810 for internetservice through the Cable modem 812. Simultaneously, it is alsoconnected to the WWAN 804 for voice calls and SMS based text messaging.The Smartphone 811 may exchange SMS based text messages with theSmartphone 814 over the WWAN 804. The Smartphone 811 may have voicecalls with the landline phone 816 through WWAN 804 and PSTN 802. Thecordless phone 826 may access the conventional landline voice servicethrough the cordless base 828 which in turn is connected to the PSTN 802though the conventional landline interface 830. The coverage area 808 ofthe WLAN Hotspot and the coverage area 832 of the cordless base 832 maypartially or fully overlap.

Although aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated using aparticular type of mobile Hotspot, the disclosure may be applicable toother types of mobile Hotspot devices, some of which are listed in anearlier section of the present disclosure. In the remainder of thepresent disclosure a mobile Hotspot is used as an example. A mobileHotspot may obtain the primary internet service through a cable modem,DSL or MB modem. When a mobile Hotspot is an area where it may receiveprimary internet service from cable modem or DSL, it may use theinternet service from that source. When a mobile Hotspot is an areawhere it does not have access to receive primary internet service fromcable modem or DSL, it may use the internet service from WWAN. When aclient device is receiving internet service from a mobile Hotspot, itmay still be connected to the WWAN for receiving other services such asvoice calls, SMS, etc.

Typically, as shown in FIG. 9, a WWAN comprises elements such as clientdevices or mobile stations and one or more base stations. Other networkdevices may also be employed, such as a mobile switching center (notshown). As illustrated in FIG. 9, the communication path from the basestation (BS) to the client device or mobile station (MS) is referred toherein as a downlink (DL) direction or downlink channel. Thecommunication path from the client device to the base station isreferred to herein as an uplink (UL) direction or uplink channel. Insome wireless communication systems, the MS communicates with the BS inboth the DL and UL directions. For instance, such communication iscarried out in cellular telephone systems. In other wirelesscommunication systems, the client device communicates with the basestations in only one direction, usually the DL. Such DL communicationmay occur in applications such as paging. Typically in a wirelesscommunication system, the client device and the base station maytransmit information in blocks of data and such a block of data isreferred herein as a “message.”

A base station to which the client device may be downlink synchronizedand/or communicating with at any given time is referred herein as theServing Base Station (SBS). In some wireless communication systems theserving base station may be referred to as the serving cell. The basestations that are in the vicinity of the serving base station are calledNeighbor Base Stations (NBS). Similarly, in some wireless communicationsystems a neighbor base station may be referred to as a neighbor cell.

A client device, after initially synchronizing with a cell, may switchto another cell depending on the signal conditions, network congestion,and other criteria. The process of switching from one cell to anothercell by a client device is often referred to as handover (HO) or cellreselection. In some wireless communication systems handover is alsoreferred to as handoff. Also in some wireless communication systems cellreselection is also referred to as idle mode handoff. An NBS, to which aclient device may be switching over its communication from the currentSBS, is herein referred to as Target Base Station (TBS). In somewireless communication systems, a target base station is normallyreferred to as a target cell. Sometimes, during a handover, the servingcell and the target cell may be the same and only the channel used forcommunication may be changed. Such a handover, in which the cell is notchanged, is called an intra-cell handover. The purpose of intra-cellhandover may be that the new channel is better suited for communicationthan the previous channel within the same cell. Cell reselections orhandovers amongst cells that use the same frequency are referred hereinas intra-frequency cell reselection or handover. Cell reselections orhandovers amongst cells that use different frequencies are referredherein as intra-frequency cell reselection or handover. A network mayuse different Radio Access Technologies (RATs) for providing variousservices. In a particular network, the cells of different RAT types maybe overlapping or adjacent to each other. If a neighbor cell is using aRAT type that is different from the RAT type used by the serving cell,it is referred to as an inter-RAT neighbor cell.

The decision making process for handovers and cell reselections variesfrom one wireless communication system to another. However, thedecisions are generally based on the signal conditions measurements bythe client devices and reporting of those measurements to the wirelesscommunication network by the client devices. The wireless communicationnetwork generally may influence and control the measurements andreporting process of the client device by providing parameters for themeasurement and reporting process. The actual decision to performhandover may be made either by the wireless communication network or bythe client device depending on the type of particular wirelesscommunication system. On the other hand the cell reselection decisionsin idle mode (i.e., when client device is not in active communicationwith the wireless communication network) may be generally performedautonomously by the client device. Both handovers and cell reselectionsmay normally lead to change of cell from which the client device mayaccess communication services. The difference between the handoverprocedure and cell reselection procedure depends generally on whether aclient device is engaged in an active communication with the wirelesscommunication network.

Normally, certain types of system information may be required by allclient devices so that they may communicate with the wirelesscommunication network. The system information typically includes systemsynchronization information, system parameters, resource allocationinformation, paging information, etc. The wireless communication networkmay transmit such system information as broadcast data so that allclient devices within its coverage area may be able to receive. Suchinformation is herein referred to as “broadcast messages.”

Typically in a wireless communication system a base station may groupthe system information and each group of system information may betransmitted as multiple broadcast messages and such broadcast messagesare herein referred as system parameter messages. The system parametermessages may carry important system information without which the clientdevice may not be able to communicate with the wireless communicationnetwork. The wireless communication network may transmit these systemparameter messages at regular intervals in such a way that any clientdevice that enters its coverage area may receive these system parametermessages and may be able to communicate with the wireless communicationnetwork at the earliest possible time. Client devices that are alreadyin the base station's coverage area may also periodically receive thesesystem parameter messages for possible updates. Normally a client devicemay store the system parameter messages in its memory for the currentSBS.

Typically, in wireless communication systems, most of the systemparameter messages may not change frequently. For example, some systemparameter messages may change once or twice a day and some systemparameter messages may not change for many days.

In some wireless communication systems, when a client device switches toa new base station due to cell reselection or handover, it may berequired to receive the system parameter messages for the new SBS andcertain system parameter messages for the selective list of NBSscorresponding to the new SBS.

The set of all system parameter messages broadcast by a base station isherein referred to as “base station broadcast system information.” Theindividual block of system information message may be referred to asSystem Information Block (SIB). Two or more SIBs may be grouped and sentas a single System Information (SI) message. There may be different SIBsdescribing different groups of system parameters such as SIB Type1(SIB1), SIB Type2 (SIB2), etc. The SI for one or more cells may beperiodically updated by the network. To ensure that the client devicesare using the correct version of the SI, a field referred herein as“change-mark” is generally included in the SI messages. Client devicesmay store the change-mark of the SIs it has decoded. If the new SI istransmitted by a cell, it may increment the change-mark to enable theclient terminal to detect that it needs to acquire the newly updated SI.The change-mark of the newly acquired SI is then used as latest versionfor detecting any future changes in the SI. The change-mark field may beincremented in modulo arithmetic to keep the field bit-width to aminimum. For example, the change-mark may be incremented modulo-8 andthe value may be represented by a 3-bit wide field.

In idle mode, a client device for the most part may turn off a majorityof its circuitry to reduce power consumption. This is often referred toas “sleep” state, a sub-state within the idle mode. A client device mayremain in a sleep state for a long duration and may wake up at thedesired time window where it expects to receive the paging messages andcertain SIBs. This alternating sequence of sleep and wake-up in idlemode is referred herein as Discontinuous Reception (DRX). The sleep andwake-up sequence may follow regular pattern and its period is oftenreferred to as DRX cycle. The success rate for the incoming calls (e.g.,mobile terminated voice calls and/or data calls) in a client device isdirectly related to the successful reception of paging messages.Normally, in idle mode, in addition to the reception of paging messagesand SIB messages, a client device may continue to search and monitorneighbor cells.

When a client device performs a network registration procedure to getservice from a cell, it decodes the system information broadcast in thecell. The client device may store such system information. The systeminformation carries important information regarding the cell reselectioncriteria. Such information includes but not limited to the tracking areaidentity (TAI), Public Land Mobile Network Identity (PLMN ID) whichuniquely identifies a particular network operator, Closed SubscriberGroup Identity (CSG ID), RAT type, neighbor cell frequencies, etc. Thisinformation may help to decide whether a cell is a “suitable cell” forthe client device to avail all the services offered by it, or the cellis an “acceptable cell” where the client device may avail only limitedservices such as emergency calls. The client device may have to performthe network registration procedure to get service from the network andfor the network to be able to page the client device for mobileterminated (incoming) calls. The network registration procedure may betypically performed by a client device with a particular cell. A groupof cells in the geographic vicinity of each other may form aregistration area. A registration area may be identified based on thesystem information of a cell. For example, the TACs of a group of cellsin a registration area may be the same.

Each base station in a wireless communication network may be identifiedby a unique identifier referred to herein as Cell Identity (CID). TheCID of a base station may become known to a client device when itdecodes SI from the base station. To avoid unnecessary updates from aclient device and yet ensure the ability to reach a client device at anygiven time, the network may organize a group of cells into a “trackingarea” and use a Tracking Area Identity (TAI) to identify the variousgroups of cells. This is illustrated in FIG. 10 where four differenttracking areas are illustrated. A cell may broadcast information aboutthe tracking area it belongs to by including the TAI information in thesystem information. A client device may be required to inform thenetwork when it begins to receive service from a cell that belongs to atracking area that is different from the tracking area of the cells fromwhich it was previously receiving service. The process of informing thenetwork that the client device has begun receiving service from a cellthat belongs to a new tracking area is referred herein as Tracking AreaUpdate (TAU) procedure. With this method, a client device performs TAUonly when there is a change in TAI of the cell from which it is gettingservice. For example, in FIG. 10, when a client device reselects fromthe cell with CID=1003 to the cell with CID=1007 which has the same TAI,it may not perform TAU procedure. However, when the client devicereselects from the cell with CID=1007 and TAI=200 to the cell withCID=1012 and TAI=201, it may perform TAU procedure.

As long as a client device is in the same registration area, the clientdevice may not perform network registration procedure again except thata periodic network registration update procedure may need to beperformed even if the client device continues to move within the sameregistration area. If the client device moves to a cell which does notbelong to the registration area in which the client device isregistered, then the client device may perform network registrationprocedure to get access to and service from the network.

When a client device is in idle mode, the network may only be aware ofthe location of the client device at the registration area level. Inorder for a network to page a client device, it may need to send thepaging message in all cells belonging to the same registration area. Theinstances for paging message transmission, known as paging occasions(POs), are usually derived based on a client device's unique identityand a paging cycle. The network may transmit a paging message addressedto a specific client device in its specific paging occasion. When aclient device performs cell reselection, the exact instances of pagingoccasions may be different in the new serving cell. Depending on theexact timing of the cell reselection and the timing of the POs in theold serving cell and the new serving cell, the client device maypotentially miss a paging message or may receive it with delay.

When a client device is connected to a mobile Hotspot for internetservice, it still may be connected to a WWAN for other services such asvoice and SMS. The client device and the mobile Hotspot may be camped onthe same cell of the same WWAN, and both the devices may be decoding thesame broadcast information (SIBs). This may be a redundant receptionsince most of the client devices which are connected to the mobileHotspot may be camped on the same cell of the same WWAN.

SUMMARY

A method and apparatus are disclosed such that a mobile Hotspot may bethe only device that decodes the broadcast information from the WWAN andrelays the WWAN broadcast information to the client devices over theSRWL. This may enable the client devices to avoid having to decode thebroadcast information directly from the WWAN. As power consumption ofclient devices may be more critical, the relaying of the systeminformation from the mobile Hotspot may be a more power efficient methodfor a client device to receive the required system information.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a method forcommunication of Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) broadcast informationin a wireless communication network may include controlling, by aprocessing device, transmitting a first WWAN broadcast informationmessage from a hotspot device, over a communication connection, to aclient device, and receiving, at the hotspot device, over thecommunication connection, a second WWAN broadcast information messagetransmitted from the client device, responsive to the first WWANbroadcast information message, wherein the first and second WWANbroadcast information messages indicate first and second WWANcapabilities respectively of the hotspot device and the client device,and in which the communication connection is a Short Range Wireless Link(SRWL) or a wired connection.

In one alternative, the first and second WWAN capabilities may indicatefirst and second Radio Access Technologies (RAT) types supportedrespectively by the hotspot device and the client device.

In one alternative, the first and second WWAN capabilities may supportat least one of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Global System forMobile communication (GSM), Long Term Evolution (LTE) from the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) or General Packet Radio Service(GPRS).

In one alternative, the first and second WWAN broadcast informationmessages may indicate at least one of current WWAN identity, RadioAccess Technology (RAT) type, Cell Identity (CID), Tracking AreaIdentity (TAI), frequency of a channel, a default DiscontinuousReception (DRX) cycle or paging cycle for a cell on which respectivelythe hotspot device and the client device is camped.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when the mobile Hotspot and the client device arecurrently camped on to a same cell of a same Radio Access Technology(RAT) type on a same frequency, determining whether to broadcast basestation broadcast system information (SI) to the client device based ona change in the SI from the same cell.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing, when the hotspot device and the client device are currentlycamped on to the same cell of the same RAT type on the same frequency,transmitting, from the hotspot device, a WWAN Camped-on Cell InformationRequest message to the client device, receiving, in response to the WWANCamped-on Cell Information Request message, from the client device aWWAN Camped on Cell Information Response message indicating at least oneof RAT type, Cell Identity (CID), Tracking Area Identity (TAI),frequency of a channel, Public Land Mobile Network Identity (PLMN ID) ofthe cell on which the client device is camped, transmitting a CellularBroadcast Information Broadcast (CBIBOS) mode entry request from thehotspot device to the client device over the communication connection,and when a CBIBOS mode entry confirmation is received from the clientdevice at the hotspot device responsive to the CBIBOS mode entryrequest, transmitting current SI information for the same cell from thehotspot device to the client device, in which SI change notificationprocessing and SI channel decode processing are disabled at the clientdevice when the client device is in the CBIBOS mode and connected to thehotspot device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing, when cell reselection is determined to occur in the hotspotdevice and the client device, determining whether the hotspot device andthe client device can continue to be in the CBIBOS mode.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when the mobile Hotspot and the client device arecurrently camped on respectively to different first and second cellshaving a same Radio Access Technology (RAT) type and on a samefrequency, determining whether base station broadcast system information(SI) from the second cell is decodable, when the SI from the second cellis determined not to be decodable, transmitting a first message to theclient device over the communication connection that Cellular BroadcastInformation Broadcast (CBIBOS) mode is not possible, and when the SIfrom the second cell is determined to be decodable, transmitting asecond message to the client device over the communication connectionthat the CBIBOS mode is possible and current SI information for thesecond cell when there is a change in the SI information for the secondcell and the hotspot device and the client device are in the CBIBOSmode, in which SI change notification processing and SI channel decodeprocessing are disabled at the client device when the client device isin the CBIBOS mode and connected to the hotspot device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing, when cell reselection is determined to occur in the hotspotdevice and the client device, determining whether the hotspot device andthe client device can continue to be in the CBIBOS mode.

In one alternative, the WWAN Camped on Cell Information Response messagemay indicate at least one of a change-mark of a most current SI theclient device has decoded.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when the WWAN Camped on Cell Information Responsemessage is received from the client device at the hotspot device and adetermination at the hotspot device is an upcoming SI change or SIchange is in progress for the cell on which the client device is camped,decoding the most recent SI from the cell on which the client device iscamped after completion of the SI change and, after the decoding,determining whether the CBIBOS mode can be entered.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when the WWAN Camped on Cell Information Responsemessage is received from the client device at the hotspot device and adetermination at the hotspot device is an upcoming SI change or SIchange is in progress for the cell on which the client device is camped,without transmitting an SI message in a storage of the hotspot device,entering the CBIBOS mode, decoding an updated SI from the cell on whichthe client device is camped after completion of the SI change andtransmitting the updated SI to the client device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when the hotspot device and the client device arecurrently camped on respectively to different first and second cellshaving a same Radio Access Technology (RAT) type and different first andsecond frequencies, determining whether base station broadcast systeminformation (SI) from the second cell is decodable with the hotspotdevice tuned to the second frequency while monitoring the firstfrequency, when the SI from the second cell is determined to be notdecodable, transmitting a first message to the client device over thecommunication connection that Cellular Broadcast Information Broadcast(CBIBOS) mode is not possible for a given client device camped on to agiven cell using a frequency other than the first frequency, and whenthe SI from the second cell is determined to be decodable, transmittinga second message to the client device over the communication connectionthat the CBIBOS mode is possible for the client device, and SIinformation broadcast from the second cell when SI information from thesecond cell is changed, in which SI change notification processing andSI channel decode processing are disabled at the client device when theclient device is in the CBIBOS mode and connected to the mobile hotspotdevice.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing, when cell reselection is determined to occur in the hotspotdevice or the client device, determining whether the hotspot device andthe client device can continue to be in the CIBOBS mode.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when the mobile Hotspot and the client device arecurrently camped on respectively to different first and second cellshaving different first and second Radio Access Technology (RAT) types,determining whether the second RAT type and each frequency of the secondRAT type are supported at the hotspot device and whether SI from thesecond cell, which requires the hotspot device to tune to a given secondfrequency of the second cell while the hotspot device monitors a givenfirst frequency of the first cell tuned to the given first frequencywhile monitoring the given second frequency, is decodable at the hotspotdevice, when the SI from the second cell is determined to be notdecodable, transmitting a first message over the communicationconnection that Cellular Broadcast Information Broadcast (CBIBOS) modeis not possible for a given client device camped on to a given cellusing a RAT type other than the first RAT type, and when the SI from thesecond cell is determined to be decodable, transmitting a second messageto the client device over the communication connection that the CBIBOSmode is possible for the client device, and SI information broadcastfrom the second cell when SI information from the second cell ischanged, in which SI change notification processing and SI channeldecode processing are disabled at the client device when the clientdevice is in the CIBOBS mode and connected to the hotspot device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing, when cell reselection is determined to occur in the hotspotdevice or the client device, determining whether the hotspot device andthe client device can continue to be in the CIBOBS mode.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when a determination is the hotspot device agreeswith the client device on monitoring and decoding base station broadcastsystem information (SI) for the client device, in which the clientdevice is camped on a same or different cell from a cell on which thehotspot device is camped and using a same or different frequency orRadio Access Technology (RAT) type as the hotspot device, monitoring atthe hotspot device a downlink for each agreed upon cell of differentfrequencies and RAT type.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, deciding whether to monitor a Paging Occasion (PO)for each of the agreed upon cells on the same or different frequency andRAT type as the hotspot device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, determining at the hotspot device POs for all of theagreed upon cells on the same or different frequency and RAT type todetermine each non-overlapping PO which the hotspot device can monitorfor identifying an SI change for each of the cells agreed upon on thesame or different frequency and RAT type.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, not monitoring by the hotspot device a same PO whichthe client device is expected to monitor in a given cell, givenfrequency, or given RAT type.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, monitoring by the hotspot device one common defaultDiscontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle based PO per given cell, givenfrequency, or given RAT type.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when an overlap in given POs of different cells inthe same or different frequencies and RAT types is determined at thehotspot device for the client device, changing a given DiscontinuousReception (DRX) cycle for one or more cells, frequencies, or RAT typesto determine whether a change in the DRX cycle changes the POs to avoidPOs overlap.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when non-overlapping PO for the cells of the same ordifferent frequencies and RAT types is not determined at the hotspotdevice, transmitting from the hotspot device a first message indicatingthe non-overlapping determination to the client and exiting CellularBroadcast Information Broadcast (CBIBOS) mode for the client device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when an overlap with a Paging Occasion (PO) ofanother cell is determined based on decoding SI for one or more ofsecond cells of the same or different frequencies and RAT types,prioritizing PO decoding on each cell of the second cells of the samefrequency and RAT type on which the hotspot device is camped, and foreach cell of the second cells on another frequency and RAT type forwhich the hotspot device determines an overlap of the PO, transmittingto the client device a first message indicating a next PO may not bedecodable by the hotspot device and requesting the client device toperform PO decode, and maintaining the hotspot device in CellularBroadcast Information Broadcast (CBIBOS) mode with the client device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when a determination at the hotspot device is theclient device denied the request from the hotspot device for decodingthe PO and to continue to be in the CBIBOS mode, exiting the CBIBOS modewith the client device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when an ongoing SI decode is completed at the hotspotdevice and a determination is a non-overlapping PO exists for one ormore of second client devices for which the hotspot device previouslyexited the CBIBOS mode or could not enter the CBIBOS mode because ofprevious overlap in the PO due to SI decode, the transmitting at leastone of a WAN Camped on Cell Information Request or Enter CBIBOS moderequest to the one or more of second client devices as a request toenter the CBIBOS mode.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when an overlap with the PO of another cell isdetermined based on decoding SI for one or more of second cells of thesame or different frequencies and RAT types, prioritizing PO decodingeach cell of the second cells of other frequency and RAT type, anddeferring SI decode for each cell of the second cells camped on afrequency and RAT type of the hotspot device.

In one alternative, the deferring the SI decode may be based on adetermination whether delayed decoding of SI impacts normal operationand performance of the hotspot device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, not monitoring Paging Occasions (PO) of cells of sameor different frequencies and Radio Access Technology (RAT) types by thehotspot device, in which the client device monitors PO in respectivecells thereof of the same or different frequencies and RAT types.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when a first message is received at the hotspotdevice from the client device which detects change in base stationbroadcast system information (SI), notified by the network in the PO, inwhich the first message indicates change in SI in the respective cell ofthe same or different frequencies or RAT type, decoding the changed SIin the respective cell and transmitting the decoded SI to the clientdevice.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when the hotspot device includes a plurality of Mreceiver/decoder circuits, decoding in parallel overlapping PagingOccasions (POs) and System Informations (SI) from a plurality of N cellsof same or different frequencies and RAT types, in which M and N are thesame or different.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, receiving a first message from the client deviceindicating the client device exited Cellular Broadcast InformationBroadcast (CBIBOS) mode and is to start decoding at least one of aPaging Occasion (PO) or base station broadcast system information (SI)according to a normal process at the client device, in which the firstmessage is transmitted when the client device is out of range of ordisconnected from the hotspot device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, exiting of a Cellular Broadcast Information Broadcast(CBIBOS) mode at any time and transmitting a third message to the clientdevice indicating the exiting of the CBIBOS mode.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, entering a Cellular Broadcast Information Broadcast(CBIBOS) mode autonomously at the hotspot device and startingbroadcasting current serving cell base station broadcast systeminformation (SI), when a new client device is connected to the hotspotdevice or the SI in the hotspot device's serving cell is updated orchanged and the updated or changed SI is successfully decoded by thehotspot device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when the hotspot device is pre-configured with a setof cells of same or different frequencies and Radio Access Technology(RAT) type for which the hotspot device expected to at least one ofmonitor or decode base station broadcast system information (SI) changefrom respective cells, autonomously entering Cellular BroadcastInformation Broadcast (CBIBOS) mode at the hotspot device and startingbroadcasting Sls for one or more of the pre-configured cells of the sameor different frequencies and RAT types.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, performing base station broadcast system information(SI) broadcasting using a first application being executed in thehotspot device, in which the client device is executing a secondapplication and the first and second applications communicate through apeer to peer protocol on any logical channel of the communicationconnection.

In one alternative, the first and second applications may be independentof the communication connection and obtained through a virtualcommunication port established in the hotspot device and the clientdevice.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, creating a new physical or logical channel as aCellular Broadcast Information Channel (CBIC) between the hotspot deviceand the client device dedicated for Cellular Broadcast InformationBroadcast (CBIBOS) mode information exchange.

In one alternative, the CBIC may be available for exchange of cellularnetwork information other than base station broadcast system information(SI) between the client device and the hotspot device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when the hotspot device broadcasts a base stationbroadcast system information (SI) message, prefixing each SI messagewith a SI change-mark index.

In one alternative, the hotspot device may use a cable modem to provideinternet service while using a WWAN modem only for base stationbroadcast system information (SI) monitoring and decoding purposes.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, saving in a database of the hotspot device mostrecent base station broadcast system information (SI) messages decodedfor the client device from a cell on a same or different frequencies andsame or different Radio Access Technology (RAT) types as a cell on whichthe hotspot device is camped.

In one alternative, SI messages for R recent camped on or neighbor cellsof the same or different frequencies or RAT type SI messages may besaved in the database.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, maintaining validity of one of the stored SI messagesin the database.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, using valid stored SI information for the cell of thesame or different frequencies and RAT type, when the stored SI messageis decoded as part of SI monitoring for another client device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when the hotspot device changes a serving cellthereof due to cell selection, cell reselection, cell change or anotherprocedure, broadcasting by the hotspot device of new cell information tothe client device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, receiving new cell information from the client deviceat the hotspot device, the new cell information indicating change ofserving cell at the client device due to cell selection or cellreselection or cell change or other procedure

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when the hotspot device and the client device are inCellular Broadcast Information Broadcast (CBIBOS) mode and a cell changeoccurs in the hotspot device or the client device and the hotspot deviceis not able to continue the CBIBOS mode with the client device, sendingfrom the hotspot device an Exit CBIBOS mode Request to the client deviceand exiting the CBIBOS mode with the client device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when the hotspot device receives a cell changenotification from the client device and valid base station broadcastsystem information (SI) for a newly notified cell of same or differentfrequencies and RAT type is stored at the hotspot device, immediatelysending the valid SI information to the client device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when the hotspot device and the client device are inthe Cellular Broadcast Information Broadcast (CBIBOS) mode and based ona change in a Paging Occasion (PO) to be monitored for a serving cell ofthe hotspot device when the hotspot device is not able to continue theCBIBOS mode with the client device, sending an Exit CBIBOS mode Requestto the client device and exiting the CBIBOS mode with the client device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, receiving at the hotspot device a first message fromthe client device indicating a changed default Discontinuous Reception(DRX) cycle or paging cycle detected at the client device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, processing a selective list of base station broadcastsystem information (SI) messages received from a serving cell of theclient device, to obtain the changed default DRX cycle or paging cyclein the serving cell of the client device and adopting Paging Occasion(PO) monitoring for the serving cell of the client device according toan updated PO.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by theprocessing device, when the PO for the serving cell of the client deviceis changed to a new PO and the hotspot device cannot continue to monitorthe new PO because of overlap in PO, sending an Exit CBIBOS modeRequest” to the client device and exiting the CBIBOS mode with theclient device.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a method forcommunication of Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) broadcast informationin a wireless communication network may include controlling, by aprocessing device, receiving at a client device a first WWAN broadcastinformation message, over a communication connection, from a hotspotdevice, and transmitting, to the hotspot device over the communicationconnection, a second WWAN broadcast information message, responsive tothe first WWAN broadcast information message, wherein the first andsecond WWAN broadcast information messages indicate first and secondWWAN capabilities respectively of the client device and the hotspotdevice, and in which the communication connection is a Short RangeWireless Link (SRWL) or a wired connection.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by a processingdevice, when the client device connects with another hotspot device in avicinity of the client device which is broadcasting a base stationbroadcast system information (SI) message for cells of same or differentfrequencies and Radio Access Technology (RAT) types as the hotspotdevice, resuming SI decoding at the client device from a pending SImessage from the hotspot device instead of waiting for all the SI to bereceived from the another hotspot device.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by a processingdevice, when the client device disconnects from the hotspot device andis not able to find another hotspot device in a current location of theclient device, starting decoding base station broadcast systeminformation (SI) message directly from the WWAN.

In one alternative, the method may include controlling, by a processingdevice, wherein, when the client device enters a Cellular BroadcastInformation Broadcast (CBIBOS) mode, turning off a Radio Frequency (RF)receiver of a cellular modem during a base station broadcast systeminformation (SI) change notification time slot and SI change time slotand entering a power save state.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus forcommunication of Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) broadcast informationin a wireless communication network may include circuitry configured tocontrol: transmitting a first WWAN broadcast information message from ahotspot device, over a communication connection, to a client device, andreceiving, at the hotspot device, over the communication connection, asecond WWAN broadcast information message transmitted from the clientdevice, responsive to the first WWAN broadcast information message,wherein the first and second WWAN broadcast information messagesindicate first and second WWAN capabilities respectively of the hotspotdevice and the client device, and in which the communication connectionis a Short Range Wireless Link (SRWL) or a wired connection.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus forcommunication of Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) broadcast informationin a wireless communication network may include circuitry configured tocontrol, receiving at a client device a first WWAN broadcast informationmessage, over a communication connection, from a hotspot device, andtransmitting, to the hotspot device over the communication connection, asecond WWAN broadcast information message, responsive to the first WWANbroadcast information message, wherein the first and second WWANbroadcast information messages indicate first and second WWANcapabilities respectively of the client device and the hotspot device,and in which the communication connection is a Short Range Wireless Link(SRWL) or a wired connection.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a wirelesscommunication device may include a receiver to receive a signal of awireless communication system; and a processing device configured tocontrol communication of Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) broadcastinformation in a wireless communication network. The processing devicemay be configured to control: transmitting a first WWAN broadcastinformation message from the wireless communication device as a hotspotdevice, over a communication connection, to a client device, andreceiving, at the wireless communication device, over the communicationconnection, a second WWAN broadcast information message transmitted fromthe client device, responsive to the first WWAN broadcast informationmessage, wherein the first and second WWAN broadcast informationmessages indicate first and second WWAN capabilities respectively of thewireless communication device and the client device, and in which thecommunication connection is a Short Range Wireless Link (SRWL) or awired connection.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a wirelesscommunication device may include a receiver to receive a signal of awireless communication system; and a processing device configured tocontrol communication of Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) broadcastinformation in a wireless communication network. The processing devicemay be configured to control: receiving at the wireless communicationdevice as a client device a first WWAN broadcast information message,over a communication connection, from a hotspot device, andtransmitting, to the hotspot device over the communication connection, asecond WWAN broadcast information message, responsive to the first WWANbroadcast information message, wherein the first and second WWANbroadcast information messages indicate first and second WWANcapabilities respectively of the wireless communication device and thehotspot device, and in which the communication connection is a ShortRange Wireless Link (SRWL) or a wired connection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example scenario of internet access using WLANnetwork over a traditional wire-line internet service.

FIG. 2 illustrates a high level block diagram of a mobile Hotspotdevice.

FIG. 3 illustrates a high level block diagram of an example mobileHotspot device with an integrated mobile broadband modem and WLAN AccessPoint.

FIG. 4 illustrates a use case of internet access over a mobile broadbandnetwork by a smartphone client device.

FIG. 5 illustrates a use case of internet access over a mobile broadbandnetwork by a smartphone client device with an integrated mobilebroadband modem, WLAN Access Point, and Application Processor.

FIG. 6 illustrates a use case of internet access over a WLAN network bya client device through a smartphone operating in mobile Hotspot mode.

FIG. 7 illustrates a use case of internet access over a WLAN network bya client device through a smartphone operating in mobile Hotspot modewith an integrated mobile broadband modem, WLAN Access Point, andApplication Processor.

FIG. 8 illustrates a use case of a Smartphone simultaneously connectedto different networks for different services.

FIG. 9 illustrates a conventional mobile wireless communication system.

FIG. 10 illustrates the grouping of cells into tracking areas in awireless communication system.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example scenario where the mobile Hotspot and aclient device may be camped on the same cell of the same WWAN.

FIG. 12 illustrates a Message Sequence Chart (MSC) for an examplescenario for mobile Hotspot broadcasting SI on the WLAN SRWL accordingto the aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example scenario where the mobile Hotspot and aclient device may be camped on different cells of the same WWAN.

FIG. 14 illustrates an MSC for an example scenario for mobile Hotspotbroadcasting SI on the WLAN SRWL for a cell different from the cell itis camped on according to the aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 illustrates an MSC for an example scenario for the handling ofPaging Occasion (PO) overlap in a mobile Hotspot followed by a clientdevice performing PO decoding and then eventual removal of PO overlapaccording to the aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 illustrates an MSC for an example scenario for the handling ofPO overlap in a mobile Hotspot followed by a client device rejecting POdecoding and then eventual removal of PO overlap according to theaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 illustrates an MSC for an example scenario for the handling ofcell reselection by a client device leading to the end of CellularBroadcast Information Broadcast over SRWL (CBIBOS) mode followed byanother reselection leading to entering of CBIBOS mode according to theaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 illustrates an MSC for an example scenario for the handling ofcell reselection by a client device to a cell for which the mobileHotspot already has valid SI which it sends to the client device andcontinues the CBIBOS mode uninterrupted according to the aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 19 illustrates an MSC for an example scenario for the handling ofDiscontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle change by leading to the end ofCBIBOS mode followed by DRX cycle change leading to entering to CBIBOSmode according to the aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The foregoing aspects, features and advantages of the present disclosurewill be further appreciated when considered with reference to thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments and accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like elements. Indescribing the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure illustrated inthe appended drawings, specific terminology will be used for the sake ofclarity. However, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to thespecific terms used.

Although aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated using aparticular type of mobile Hotspot, the disclosure may be applicable toother types of Hotspots.

Although the aspects of the present disclosure may use the 3GPP LTE asan example for a WWAN used in a mobile Hotspot, the aspects describedherein are applicable to other WWAN such as 3GPP Wideband Code DivisionMultiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Global Systemfor Mobile communication (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS),Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), etc. Similarly, although the WLANmay be used as an example SRWL for the mobile Hotspot, other SRWL suchas Bluetooth™ may be used by a mobile Hotspot.

The types of client devices connected to a mobile Hotspot may vary. Forexample, a standard laptop or a desktop Personal Computer (PC), atablet, etc. may be connected for internet service. Another type device,referred to as machine type device, may be deeply embedded devicesinside appliances such as a refrigerator, a washer, a dryer, etc. whichmay use internet service. This type of devices may have differentservice requirements such as they may be more delay tolerant than othertypes of client devices. Another type of device may be a smartphonewhich may use multiple services such as internet, voice calls, SMS, etc.from the mobile Hotspot. Another type of device may be a cordless phoneinside a home or office which may connect to the mobile Hotspot only forvoice calls.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the mobile Hotspot andclient device may communicate through the SRWL and may exchange theirWWAN capabilities such as the RAT type supported by them. For example,the mobile Hotspot and client device may be supporting one or more ofthe following: CDMA, GSM, LTE, GPRS, etc.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the mobile Hotspot andthe client device communicate with each other the current WWAN identity(i.e., PLMN ID), the RAT type, the CID, the TAI, the frequency of thechannel, default DRX cycle or paging cycle, etc. for the cell they arecamped on. If there is more than one client device connected to themobile Hotspot, each client device communicates to the mobile Hotspotthe information about the cell it is camped on.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, if the mobile Hotspotand a client device are currently camped on to the same cell, namelycell C_(a), of the same RAT type, on the same frequency, then the mobileHotspot may determine to broadcast the SI to the client device wheneverthere is a change in the SI from the current serving cell. At thispoint, according to an aspect of the present disclosure, both the mobileHotspot and client devices enter into Cellular Broadcast InformationBroadcast over SRWL (CBIBOS) mode in which the client device may disablethe SI change notification processing and SI channel decode processingas long as it is connected to the mobile Hotspot and has entered intoCBIBOS mode. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, whenthere is a cell reselection in either mobile Hotspot or client device,then they may communicate with each other to determine whether they cancontinue to be in the CBIBOS mode or exit it. According to an aspect ofthe present disclosure, when there is more than one client deviceconnected to the mobile Hotspot, the same procedure is followed for eachclient device.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example scenario for the application of presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 11, WWAN coverage 1102 and mobile Hotspotcoverage 1105 are illustrated. The mobile Hotspot 1104 comprises theWLAN Access Point (modem) 1106 and WWAN modem 1108. As illustrated inFIG. 3, in another implementation both WLAN modem and WWAN modem may bea single unit. The WWAN modem 1108 is connected to the cell with CID1015 in the WWAN 1102. The Smartphone 1110 communicates with the mobileHotspot over the WLAN link for internet services. The Smartphone 1110also communicates with the cell with CID 1015 for voice calls, SMS, andother services (except internet) provided by the WWAN 1102. The MessageSequence Chart (MSC) for the messages exchanged between the Hotspot 1104and the Smartphone 1110 over the WLAN link for entering the CBIBOS modeaccording to the aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated inFIG. 12. The two entities mobile Hotspot 1104 and the Smartphone 1110involved in the message exchanges are illustrated at the top. Initially,the WLAN link between the two entities may be established. Next themobile Hotspot 1104 may send the “WWAN Camped-on Cell InformationRequest” message to the Smartphone 1110 which in return may send the“WWAN Camped on Cell Information Response” message which may include theCID, TAI, frequency, the RAT type, and the PLMN ID of the cell on whichthe Smartphone 1110 is camped on. Upon receipt of this information, themobile Hotspot 1104 may compare it with the corresponding informationabout the cell it is camped on. In the present example, as illustratedin FIG. 11, both the mobile Hotspot 1104 and the Smartphone 1110 arecamped on the same cell, namely cell C_(a) with CID=1015. Therefore, themobile Hotspot 1104 may conclude that it is possible to enter the CBIBOSmode and may send a message “Enter CBIBOS mode Request” message to theSmartphone 1110 which in turn may accept the request and send the “EnterCBIBOS mode Confirm” message to the mobile Hotspot 1104. At this point,the mobile Hotspot 1104 may send the most current SI it has for the cellit is camped on to the Smartphone 1110 using the “WWAN SI Update”message. At this point, the Smartphone 1110 may stop receiving anyfurther SI from the WWAN directly. Subsequently, the mobile Hotspotcontinues to monitor the SI for the cell it is camped on and if the SIhas been updated by the WWAN, the mobile Hotspot 1104 sends the updatedSI to the Smartphone 1110 using another “WWAN SI Update” message.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, if the mobile Hotspotand one or more client devices are currently camped on to the cells ofthe same RAT type, on the same frequency but on different cells, namelyC_(a) and C_(b) respectively, then the mobile Hotspot may firstdetermine whether it can decode the SI from cell C_(b). According to anaspect of the present disclosure, if the mobile Hotspot determines thatit cannot decode the broadcast SI from cell C_(b) then it maycommunicate to the one or more client devices that CBIBOS mode may notbe possible for those client devices which are camped on cells differentfrom that of the mobile Hotspot. Note that a subset of the clientdevices that may be camped on the same cell as the mobile Hotspot maycontinue to remain in the CBIBOS mode. According to an aspect of thepresent disclosure, if the mobile Hotspot determines that it can decodethe broadcast SI from cell C_(b) then the mobile Hotspot may decode andrelay the broadcast SIs from the cell C_(b) to the client devices as andwhen there is change in the SI from cell C_(b) and both the mobileHotspot and client devices enter the CBIBOS mode. Note that CBIBOS modemay be determined on a per cell basis, i.e., there may be CBIBOS modeinformation broadcast for a subset of client devices that may be campedon cell C_(a) and there may be a separate CBIBOS mode informationbroadcast for a subset of client devices that may be camped on cellC_(b). If there is another subset of client devices camped on yetanother cell of the same RAT type and on the same frequency, then yetanother separate CBIBOS mode for the SI of that cell may be supported,and so on. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the clientdevices may disable the SI change notification processing and SI channeldecode processing as long as they are connected to the mobile Hotspotand have entered the CBIBOS mode. According to an aspect of the presentdisclosure, when there is a cell reselection in either mobile Hotspot orone or more of the client devices then they may communicate with eachother to determine whether they can continue to be in the CBIBOS mode orexit the CBIBOS mode. FIG. 13 illustrates an example scenario for theapplication of present disclosure where the mobile Hotspot 1304 iscamped on the cell C_(a) with CID 1015 and the Smartphone 1310 is campedon cell C_(b) with CID 1013.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the “WWAN Camped onCell Information Response” message may include, among other information,the change-mark of the most current SI it has decoded. This may enablethe mobile Hotspot to determine whether it has the most current SI forthe cell that the client device is camped on. If the mobile Hotspot doesnot have the most recent SI for the cell that the client device iscamped on, the mobile Hotspot may acquire the most recent SI and may useits change-mark to detect any future change of SI. The mobile Hotspotmay then determine whether it can enter the CBIBOS mode or not and mayproceed accordingly.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when the mobileHotspot receives the “WWAN Camped on Cell Information Response” messageand if the mobile Hotspot is aware of an upcoming SI change or SI changeis in progress for the cell the client device is camped on, the mobileHotspot may wait till the completion of SI change and decode the mostrecent SI from the cell and then the mobile Hotspot may determinewhether it can enter the CBIBOS mode or not and may proceed accordingly.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when the mobileHotspot receives the “WWAN Camped on Cell Information Response” messageand if the mobile Hotspot is aware of an upcoming SI change or SI changeis in progress for the cell the client device is camped on, the mobileHotspot may enter the CBIBOS mode but may not immediately send the SImessage available in its storage rather it may decode the updated SIfrom the cell and then may send the updated SI to the client devices.

The MSC for the messages exchanged between the mobile Hotspot 1304 andthe Smartphone 1310 over the WLAN link for entering the CBIBOS mode whenthey are camped on different cells of the same frequency, RAT type, andPLMN according to the aspects of the present disclosure are illustratedin FIG. 14. The message exchanges are similar to the case illustrated inFIG. 12 for the case when both the Hotspot and the Smartphone are campedon the same cell. The key difference is that the mobile Hotspot 1304first determines whether it can decode the SIBs from cell C_(b) or notand if it can do so, it may actually decode the SIBs from Cell C_(b).Only after it has the SIBs of the cell C_(b) is available to it, themobile Hotspot 1304 sends the “Enter CBIBOS mode Request” message to theSmartphone 1310. Subsequently, after having entered the CBIBOS mode, themobile Hotspot 1304 may continue to monitor the cell C_(b) for change ofSIBs. Eventually if there is a change in SIBs is detected, the mobileHotspot 1304 decodes the updated SIBs and sends them to the Smartphone1310.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, if the mobile Hotspotand one or more client devices are currently camped on to the cells ofthe same RAT type but different frequencies, namely cells C_(f1) andC_(f2) respectively, then mobile Hotspot may first determine whether itcan decode the SI from the cell C_(fz) which may require the mobileHotspot to tune to frequency f2 of the client device cell whilemonitoring its own serving cell frequency f1. According to an aspect ofthe present disclosure, if the mobile Hotspot determines that it cannotdecode the broadcast SI from cell C_(f2) then it may communicate to theone or more client devices that CBIBOS mode may not be possible forthose client devices which are camped on cells using differentfrequencies from that of the mobile Hotspot. Note that a subset of theclient devices that may be camped on the same cell as the mobile Hotspotand client devices that may be camped on cells with the same frequencyas the mobile Hotspot may continue to remain in the CBIBOS mode.According to an aspect of the present disclosure, if the mobile Hotspotdetermines that it can decode the broadcast SI from cell C_(f2) then themobile Hotspot and client devices may enter the CBIBOS mode and theHotspot may decode and relay the broadcast SIs from the cell C_(f2) tothe client devices as and when there is change in the SI from cellC_(f2). Note that CBIBOS mode may be determined on a per cell basis,i.e., there may be CBIBOS mode information broadcast for a subset ofclient devices that may be camped on cell C_(f1) and there may be aseparate CBIBOS mode information broadcast for a subset of clientdevices that may be camped on cell C_(f2). If there is another subset ofclient devices camped on yet another cell of the same RAT type anddifferent frequency, then yet another separate CBIBOS mode for the SI ofcells on that frequency may be supported, and so on. According to anaspect of the present disclosure, the client devices may disable the SIchange notification processing and SI channel decode processing as longas they are connected to the mobile Hotspot and have entered the CBIBOSmode. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when there is acell reselection in either mobile Hotspot or one or more of the clientdevices then they may communicate with each other to determine whetherthey can continue to be in the CBIBOS mode or exit the CBIBOS mode.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, if the mobile Hotspotand one or more client devices are currently camped on to the cells ofdifferent RAT type, namely cells C_(RAT1) and C_(RAT2) respectively,then mobile Hotspot may first determine whether it supports the RAT2used by the client devices and whether it supports the particularfrequencies used by the RAT2, and whether it can decode the SI from thecell C_(RAT2) which may require the mobile Hotspot to tune to thefrequency of C_(RAT2) of the cell camped on by one or more clientdevices while monitoring its own serving cell C_(RAT1) of RAT type RAT1.According to an aspect of the present disclosure, if the mobile Hotspotdetermines that it cannot decode the broadcast SI from cell C_(RAT2)then it may communicate to the one or more client devices that CBIBOSmode may not be possible for those client devices which are camped oncells using different RAT type (RAT2) from that of the mobile Hotspot.Note that a subset of the client devices that may be camped on the samecell as the mobile Hotspot and client devices that may be camped oncells with the same and/or different frequency as the mobile Hotspot maycontinue to remain in the CBIBOS mode. According to an aspect of thepresent disclosure, if the mobile Hotspot determines that it can decodethe broadcast SI from cell C_(RAT2) then the mobile Hotspot and clientdevices may enter the CBIBOS mode and the Hotspot may decode and relaythe broadcast SIs from the cell C_(RAT2) to the client devices as andwhen there is change in the SI from cell C_(RAT2). Note that CBIBOS modemay be determined on a per cell basis, i.e., there may be CBIBOS modeinformation broadcast for a subset of client devices that may be campedon cell C_(RAT1) and there may be a separate CBIBOS mode informationbroadcast for a subset of client devices that may be camped on cellC_(RAT2). If there is another subset of client devices camped on yetanother cell of different RAT type and different frequency, then yetanother separate CBIBOS mode for the SI of cells on that RAT type andfrequency may be supported, and so on. According to an aspect of thepresent disclosure, the client devices may disable the SI changenotification processing and SI channel decode processing as long as theyare connected to the mobile Hotspot and have entered the CBIBOS mode.According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when there is a cellreselection in either mobile Hotspot or one or more of the clientdevices then they may communicate with each other to determine whetherthey can continue to be in the CBIBOS mode or exit the CBIBOS mode.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, for the cases wherethe mobile Hotspot agrees with the client devices on monitoring anddecoding SI for the client devices camped on the same cells or differentcells that may be on different frequencies or different RAT types, themobile Hotspot may monitor the downlink for all the agreed upon cells ofdifferent frequencies and RAT types. The mobile Hotspot may manage itsdownlink monitoring schedule accordingly for respective cells. Generallythe SI change notification may be monitored through a paging message inthe respective cells of the same or different frequencies and RAT types.The paging message transmission may follow a predetermined schedulingand a particular paging message transmission instance is referred hereinas Paging Occasion (PO).

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the mobile Hotspot maydecide to monitor the PO for all the agreed upon cells on the samefrequency or different frequencies and RAT types. According to an aspectof the present disclosure, the mobile Hotspot may compute the POs forall the cells on the same or different frequencies and RAT types todetermine the non-overlapping POs which it can monitor for identifyingthe SI change for each the cells on the same or different frequenciesand RAT types. Since the purpose of PO monitoring is only for SI changenotification, the Hotspot may not be required to monitor the clientdevice specific PO in a cell of the same or different frequencies andRAT types. According to an aspect of the present disclosure the mobileHotspot may not monitor the same PO which the client devices areexpected to monitor in a cell, frequency, or RAT type. According to anaspect of the present disclosure, the mobile Hotspot may just monitorone common default DRX cycle based PO per cell, frequency, or RAT type.This may give flexibility to the mobile Hotspot to choose nonoverlapping PO for all the frequencies, RAT types, and cells that itplans to monitor the PO for SI change notification.

Note that a change in the DRX cycle typically may change the PO for theclient devices in that particular network. According to an aspect of thepresent disclosure, if the mobile Hotspot finds an overlap in the POs ofdifferent cells in the same or different frequencies and RAT types, thenit may change its DRX cycle for one or more of the cells, frequencies,or RAT types to determine whether the change in DRX cycle could changethe POs such that the POs overlap may be avoided. According to an aspectof the present disclosure, if the mobile Hotspot could not find thenon-overlapping PO for the cells of the same or different frequenciesand RAT types, then the mobile Hotspot may communicate the same to theaffected client devices and exit the CBIBOS mode for those clientdevices.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when the mobileHotspot attempts to decode SI for one or more of the cells of the sameor different frequencies and RAT types, it may find an overlap with POsof other cells. In such a case, one of the two alternative methods asdescribed next may be used. According to an aspect of the presentdisclosure, in the first alternative, the mobile Hotspot may firstprioritize the cells of the same frequency and RAT type in which themobile Hotspot is camped on. According to an aspect of the presentdisclosure, for the cells on other frequencies and RAT types, for whichthe mobile Hotspot sees an overlap of the PO, the mobile Hotspot maycommunicate to the client devices that it may not be able to decode thenext PO for the client devices and request the client devices to performthe PO decode by themselves and, according to an aspect of the presentdisclosure, the mobile Hotspot may continue to be in CBIBOS mode withthe client device. This example scenario is illustrated in the MSCcontained in FIG. 15. At the beginning, the mobile Hotspot 1104 and theclient device Smartphone 1110 have already entered into the CBIBOS mode.At this point, the mobile Hotspot may monitor the PO for all therequired cells including the inter-frequency cell C_(c) on which theclient device Smartphone 1110 may be camped. Subsequently, for thecurrent example scenario, the SI of the serving cell of the mobileHotspot may change which may lead to PO overlap for the inter-frequencycell C_(c). At this time, the mobile Hotspot may send the “PO DecodeStart Request” message to the client device Smartphone 1110 which mayaccept the request and send the “PO Decode Start Response” message tothe mobile Hotspot. Subsequently, the mobile Hotspot 1104 and the clientdevice Smartphone 1110 may continue to decode their respective PO's.Subsequently, the SI of the serving cell of the mobile Hotspot maychange which may lead to the removal of the PO overlap for theinter-frequency cell C_(c). At this time, the mobile Hotspot 1104 maysend the “PO Decode Stop Request” message to the client deviceSmartphone 1110 which may accept the request and send the “PO DecodeStop Response” message to the mobile Hotspot. From this point forward,the mobile Hotspot may continue to monitor the PO for all the requiredcells and the client device Smartphone 1110 may not monitor its own POon the cell C_(c).

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, if the client devicedenies the request from the mobile Hotspot for decoding the PO and tocontinue to be in CBIBOS mode, then the mobile Hotspot may exit theCBIBOS mode with the client device and the client device may performnormal PO decode and SI decode by itself. According to an aspect of thepresent disclosure, after completing the ongoing SI decode, if theHotspot finds the non overlapping PO for one or more of client devicesfor which it previously exited the CBIBOS mode or could not enter theCBIBOS mode because of the overlap in the PO in the past due to SIdecode, the mobile Hotspot may send either “WWAN Camped on CellInformation Request” or “Enter CBIBOS mode request” to one or more ofsuch client devices to request them to enter the CBIBOS mode. Thisexample scenario is illustrated in the MSC contained in FIG. 16. At thebeginning, the mobile Hotspot 1104 and the client device Smartphone 1110have already entered into the CBIBOS mode. At this point, the mobileHotspot 1104 monitors the PO for all the required cells including theinter-frequency cell C_(c) on which the client device Smartphone 1110may be camped. Subsequently, the SI of the serving cell of the mobileHotspot may change which may lead to PO overlap for the inter-frequencycell C_(c). At this time, the mobile Hotspot 1104 may send the “PODecode Start Request” message to the client device Smartphone 1110 whichmay not accept the request and send the “PO Decode Start Reject” messageto the mobile Hotspot. At this time, the mobile Hotspot 1104 may sendthe “Exit CBIBOS mode Request” message to the client device Smartphone1110 which may accept the request and send the “Exit CBIBOS modeResponse” message to the mobile Hotspot. Subsequently, the mobileHotspot may continue to decode the POs for remaining required cells. Theclient device Smartphone 1110 may take necessary steps, includingpossibly acquiring updated SI, etc., to resume PO decoding on its own.Subsequently, the SI of the serving cell of the mobile Hotspot maychange which may lead to the removal of the PO overlap for theinter-frequency cell C_(c). At this time, the mobile Hotspot 1104 maysend the “WWAN Camped on Cell Information Request” message to the clientdevice Smartphone 1110 which may accept the request and send the “WWANCamped on Cell Information Response” message to the mobile Hotspot. Themobile Hotspot 1104 may conclude that it is possible to enter the CBIBOSmode and may send a message “Enter CBIBOS mode Request” message to theclient device Smartphone 1110 which in turn may accept the request andsend the “Enter CBIBOS mode Confirm” message to the mobile Hotspot. Fromthis point forward, the mobile Hotspot may continue to monitor the POfor all the required cells and the client device Smartphone 1110 may notmonitor its own PO on the cell C_(c).

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, in the secondalternative, the mobile Hotspot may prioritize the PO decoding of cellsof other frequencies and RAT types, since PO decoding may be typically ahigher priority and the mobile Hotspot may defer the SI decode for cellson its camped on frequency and RAT type. This may be a preferredalternative as there is usually periodic broadcast of SIs from each cellof the same or different frequencies and RAT types. According to anaspect of the present disclosure, the mobile Hotspot may determine todefer the SI decode if the delayed decoding of SI may not impact thenormal operation and performance of the mobile Hotspot.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the mobile Hotspot maydecide not to monitor the PO of the cells of the same or differentfrequencies and RAT types and may rely on the client devices formonitoring PO in their respective cells of the same or differentfrequencies and RAT types. According to an aspect of the presentdisclosure, when one or more client devices detects the change in SI,notified by the network in the PO, then the client device(s) maycommunicate to the mobile Hotspot that there is change in SI in therespective cell of the same or different frequencies or RAT type andthen the mobile Hotspot may decode the changed SI in the respective celland broadcast the decoded SI to the one or more client devices.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when a mobile Hotspotmay be built with multiple (for example, M) receiver/decoder circuits,it may decode in parallel even the overlapping POs and SIs from multiple(for example, N) cells of the same or different frequencies and RATtypes. Note that M and N may not necessarily be the same.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when a client devicegoes out of range of the mobile Hotspot then it may exit CBIBOS mode andmay start decoding the PO and/or SI on its own as normal.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when a client devicedisconnects with the mobile Hotspot then it may exit CBIBOS mode and maystart decoding the PO and/or SI on its own as normal.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the mobile Hotspot atany point of time may communicate to client devices and may exit CBIBOSmode.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the mobile Hotspot mayenter CBIBOS mode autonomously and may start broadcasting its currentserving cell SI information. The mobile Hotspot may do this whenever anew client device gets connected to it. The mobile Hotspot may do thiswhenever there is an update or change in SI in its serving cell and themobile Hotspot successfully decodes the updated SI.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the mobile Hotspot maybe pre-configured with a set of cells of the same or differentfrequencies, and RAT type for which it is expected to monitor and/ordecode SI change from the respective cells. The mobile Hotspot may enterCBIBOS mode autonomously and may start broadcasting the SIs for one ormore of the pre-configured cells of the same or different frequenciesand RAT types.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the mobile Hotspot maydo the SI broadcast using an application which may run in the mobileHotspot and in the client devices and the applications on the twoentities may communicate through a peer to peer protocol on any logicalchannel of the underlying SRWL being used. According to an aspect of thepresent disclosure, the peer to peer application may be independent ofthe particular SRWL being used and it may be achieved through a virtualcommunication port established in both mobile Hotspot and in the clientdevices. The SRWL connection may be mapped to the virtual communicationport and the applications may communicate using the virtualcommunication port. For example, in case of WLAN SRWL, it could be aTransmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) socket basedcommunication between the mobile Hotspot and the client devices.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the mobile Hotspot andthe client devices may create a new physical or logical channel, namelyCellular Broadcast Information Channel (CBIC), which may bepre-negotiated and dedicated for the CBIBOS mode information exchange.This CBIC may be defined with a periodicity and time slot where themobile Hotspot may broadcast the updated SI and the client devices maymonitor the CBIC on a pre-defined agreed upon periodicity and time slotto receive the updated SI message from the mobile Hotspot. According toan aspect of the present disclosure the mobile Hotspot and the clientdevice may use the CBIC for other cellular network information exchange(other than SI) between the client device and the mobile Hotspot.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when the mobileHotspot broadcasts the SI messages, it may prefix each SI message withthe SI change-mark index to ensure the client devices know thechange-mark index of the SI broadcast by the mobile Hotspot. This mayhelp the client devices to cope with the out of order reception of SImessages from the mobile Hotspot. According to an aspect of the presentdisclosure, if a client device connects with another mobile Hotspot inits vicinity which may also be broadcasting the SI message for the cellsof the same or different frequencies and RAT types, then the clientdevice may resume from the pending SI message decode instead of waitingfor all the SI to be received from the new mobile Hotspot.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when a client devicedisconnects from the mobile Hotspot and if the client device is not ableto find another mobile Hotspot in its current location, then clientdevice may start decoding the SI directly from the WWAN.

A mobile Hotspot may be equipped with more than one source for primarysources of internet. For example, a mobile Hotspot may be equipped witha cable modem and a WWAN modem. According to an aspect of the presentdisclosure, a mobile Hotspot may be using the cable modem to provideinternet service while it may be using the WWAN modem strictly for SImonitoring and decoding purposes, i.e., a mobile Hotspot need not beusing the WWAN for providing internet service in order to only monitorthe SI from WWAN cells.

A client device operating according to the aspects of the presentdisclosure may enter power save mode without monitoring change of SI anddecoding of SI which may lead to reduce power consumption and extendedbattery life. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when theclient device enters the CBIBOS mode, the client device may turn off theRF receiver of the cellular modem during the SI change notification timeslot and the SI change time slot and may enter a power save state. Thismay be a significant advantage for deeply embedded client devicespowered with limited capacity batteries. For the case where the mobileHotspot and client devices are camped on the same cell of the samefrequency and the same RAT type, the mobile Hotspot need not do anyadditional decoding. This is likely to be the most common case when themobile Hotspot and client devices have the service from the WWAN withthe same PLMN. When a client device first connects with the mobileHotspot, there is a high probability the client device may camp on tothe same cell if both are getting service from the WWAN with the samePLMN, then the client device may get the updated SI sooner than comparedto when it decodes on its own directly from the WWAN.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure the mobile Hotspot maysave in its database the most recent SI messages decoded for its clientdevice from a cell on the same or different frequencies and/or differentRAT types. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the mobileHotspot may save in its database SI messages for R recent camped on orneighbor cells of the same or different frequencies and/or RAT type SImessages. Example values of R may be 10 or 20 or 50 and it may bedetermined based on simulation results or experiments and the value of Rmay be preconfigured in the mobile Hotspot.

According to as aspect of the present disclosure the mobile Hotspot maymaintain the validity for the stored SI message in its database. Themobile Hotspot may maintain the validity by refreshing the validityduration every time it decodes a PO and detects there is SI change. Thevalidity timer and the method to identify the validity for the stored SImay be different for cells of the same or different frequencies and/orRAT types.

The mobile Hotspot may do cell selection or reselection or change to acell of the same or different frequencies and/or RAT types for which themobile Hotspot may already have valid stored SI information which themobile Hotspot may have decoded as part of SI monitor for client devicesconnected to it. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, themobile Hotspot may use the valid stored SI information for a cell of thesame or different frequencies and/or RAT types even though the stored SImessage may have been decoded as part of SI monitoring for other clientdevices.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when the mobileHotspot changes its serving cell due to cell selection or cellreselection or cell change or other procedure, the mobile Hotspot maybroadcast its new cell information to the client devices.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure when a client devicechanges it serving cell due to cell selection or cell reselection orcell change or other procedure the client device may communicate its newcell information to the mobile Hotspot.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when the mobileHotspot and the client devices are in CBIBOS mode and if a cell changeoccurs in either mobile Hotspot or in one or more of the client devicesand if the mobile Hotspot may not able to continue the CBIBOS mode withone or more of the client devices then the mobile Hotspot may send “ExitCBIBOS mode Request” to one or more of the client devices and may exitthe CBIBOS mode with those client devices. An example of this type ofscenario is illustrated in FIG. 17 where initially the mobile Hotspot1104 and the client device Smartphone 1110 are in CBIBOS mode. At somepoint the client device Smartphone 1110 may perform cell reselection andto ensure that the CBIBOS mode can be continued, it may send the “WWANCamped on Cell Information Response” message to the mobile Hotspot toupdate its serving cell information. The mobile Hotspot 1104 maydetermine that it may not be able to support the CBIBOS mode for theclient device Smartphone 1110 for the newly selected cell. Therefore,the mobile Hotspot 1104 may send the “Exit CBIBOS mode Request” messageto the client device Smartphone 1110 which may accept the request andsend the “Exit CBIBOS mode Response” message to the mobile Hotspot. Atfurther later point in time, the client device Smartphone 1110 mayperform another cell reselection and to ensure that the CBIBOS mode canbe entered, it may send the “WWAN Camped on Cell Information Response”message to the mobile Hotspot to update its serving cell information.The mobile Hotspot 1104 may determine that it may be able to support theCBIBOS mode for the client device Smartphone 1110 for the newly selectedcell. Therefore, the mobile Hotspot 1104 may send the “Enter CBIBOS modeRequest” message to the client device Smartphone 1110 which may acceptthe request and send the “Enter CBIBOS mode Response” message to themobile Hotspot. From this point forward, the mobile Hotspot may continueto monitor the PO and the SI for the serving cell of the client deviceSmartphone 1110.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when the mobileHotspot receives a cell change notification from a client device and ifthe mobile Hotspot has valid stored SI information for the newlynotified cell of the same or different frequencies and/or RAT types,then the mobile Hotspot may immediately send the valid stored SIinformation to the client device. This may potentially expedite the SIacquisition for the client device and may expedite the client devicenetwork access for a faster connection setup after cell change in theclient device. An example scenario of this aspect is illustrated in FIG.18 where initially the mobile Hotspot 1104 and the client deviceSmartphone 1110 are in CBIBOS mode. At some point, the client deviceSmartphone 1110 may perform cell reselection and may camp on a differentcell. To ensure that the CBIBOS mode can be continued, the client deviceSmartphone 1110 may send the “WWAN Camped on Cell Information Response”message to the mobile Hotspot to update its serving cell information.The mobile Hotspot may look up its database of valid SI for variouscells and may determine that it already has valid SI for the cell theclient device Smartphone 1110 has newly camped on. The mobile Hotspot1104 may immediately send the “WWAN SI Update” with the SI for theserving cell of the client device Smartphone 1110. The mobile Hotspotand the client device Smartphone 1110 continue to remain in the CBIBOSmode even after change of cell and the client device Smartphone 1110 didnot have to decode the SI by itself.

The network may update the default DRX cycle or paging cycle as part ofSI change and which may change the PO to be monitored for the currentserving cell for the mobile Hotspot. Sometimes a user may change the DRXcycle on the mobile Hotspot and which may also lead to change in the POto be monitored for the current serving cell for the mobile Hotspot.According to an aspect of the present disclosure, when the mobileHotspot and the client devices are in CBIBOS mode and if there is achange in the PO to be monitored for the Hotspot serving cell the mobileHotspot may not able to continue the CBIBOS mode with one or more of theclient devices then the mobile Hotspot may send “Exit CBIBOS modeRequest” to one or more of the client devices and may exit the CBIBOSmode with those client devices. An example of MSC for handling this typeof scenario is illustrated in FIG. 19 where initially the mobile Hotspot1104 and the client device Smartphone 1110 are in CBIBOS mode. At somepoint the SI of the camped on cell of the client device Smartphone 1110may be updated by the network and to ensure that the CBIBOS mode can becontinued, the mobile Hotspot may send the “WWAN SI Update” message tothe client device Smartphone 1110. The mobile Hotspot 1104 may determinethat it may not be able to support the CBIBOS mode for the client deviceSmartphone 1110 for the updated DRX cycle in the new SI. Therefore, themobile Hotspot 1104 may send the “Exit CBIBOS mode Request” message tothe client device Smartphone 1110 which may accept the request and sendthe “Exit CBIBOS mode Response” message to the mobile Hotspot. Atfurther later point in time, the SI of the camped on cell of the clientdevice Smartphone 1110 may be updated by the network and the mobileHotspot may send the “WWAN Camped on Cell Information Response” messageto the mobile Hotspot to update its serving cell information. The mobileHotspot 1104 may determine that it may be able to support the CBIBOSmode for the client device Smartphone 1110 for the updated DRX cycle inthe newly updated SI. Therefore, the mobile Hotspot 1104 may send the“Enter CBIBOS mode Request” message to the client device Smartphone 1110which may accept the request and send the “Enter CBIBOS mode Response”message to the mobile Hotspot. From this point forward, the mobileHotspot may continue to monitor the PO and the SI for the serving cellof the client device Smartphone 1110.

Although the mobile Hotspot monitors the SI messages for the clientdevices and receives the SI messages from the cells of the same ordifferent frequencies and RAT types, and sends the SI messages to theclient devices, the mobile Hotspot may not parse or interpret the SImessages that are received for the client devices. As part of the SIupdate, the default DRX cycle or paging cycle may change for the cellsof the same or different frequencies and/or RAT types that are monitoredfor the client devices. According to an aspect of the presentdisclosure, if a client device detects a change in the default DRX cycleor paging cycle which may change the default PO to be monitored in itscurrent serving cell then the client device may communicate the changeddefault DRX cycle or paging cycle to the mobile Hotspot. According to anaspect of the present disclosure, the mobile Hotspot may parse orinterpret a selective list of SI messages that are received from theserving cell of a client device, to obtain the default DRX cycle orpaging cycle change in any of the client device serving cell and themobile Hotspot may adopt the PO monitoring for the client device servingcell as per the updated PO. According to an aspect of the presentdisclosure, when there is a change in the PO for the client device'sserving cell, the mobile Hotspot may not be able to continue to monitorthe new PO because of overlap in PO and in such a case the mobileHotspot may send “Exit CBIBOS mode Request” to one or more of the clientdevices and may exit the CBIBOS mode with those client devices.

Although the term “mobile Hotspot” is used herein to describe thevarious aspects of the present disclosure, the disclosure may beapplicable to any Hotspot that may be using a WWAN and the Hotspot maynot necessarily be mobile. Furthermore, the connectivity between theHotspot device and the client devices may not necessarily be SRWL. Forexample, the Hotspot device and the client devices may be communicatingover a wired connection such as Universal Serial Bus (USB), UniversalAsynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART), Inter-Integrated Circuit(I2C), General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO), Ethernet cables, etc. In oneexample of connectivity, the client devices may be connected to theHotspot over Ethernet for internet connection but may continue to usethe WWAN for other services. In this case the Hotspot may use its ownWWAN modem to decode the SI of the cell on which the client device iscamped and provide any updated SIs to the client devices over theEthernet. In another example, a client device may be connected to aPersonal Computer (PC) that has a built-in WWAN modem. The client devicemay be connected to the PC over a USB cable for charging and/ortransferring music, images, videos, etc. between the PC and the clientdevice. In this case, the PC may be in the equivalent role of a Hotspot.The PC may use its WWAN modem to decode the SI of the cell on which theclient device is camped and provide any updated SIs to the clientdevices over the USB cable.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for communication of Wireless WideArea Network (WWAN) broadcast information in a wireless communicationnetwork, the method comprising: controlling, by a processing device,transmitting a first WWAN broadcast information message from a hotspotdevice, over a communication connection, to a client device, andreceiving, at the hotspot device, over the communication connection, asecond WWAN broadcast information message transmitted from the clientdevice, responsive to the first WWAN broadcast information message,wherein the first and second WWAN broadcast information messagesindicate first and second WWAN capabilities respectively of the hotspotdevice and the client device, and in which the communication connectionis a Short Range Wireless Link (SRWL) or a wired connection.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first and second WWAN capabilitiesindicate first and second Radio Access Technologies (RAT) typessupported respectively by the hotspot device and the client device. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second WWAN capabilitiessupport at least one of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), GlobalSystem for Mobile communication (GSM), Long Term Evolution (LTE) fromthe 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) or General Packet RadioService (GPRS).
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and secondWWAN broadcast information messages indicate at least one of currentWWAN identity, Radio Access Technology (RAT) type, Cell Identity (CID),Tracking Area Identity (TAI), frequency of a channel, a defaultDiscontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle or paging cycle for a cell on whichrespectively the hotspot device and the client device is camped.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: controlling, by the processingdevice, when the mobile Hotspot and the client device are currentlycamped on to a same cell of a same Radio Access Technology (RAT) type ona same frequency, determining whether to broadcast base stationbroadcast system information (SI) to the client device based on a changein the SI from the same cell.
 6. The method of claim 5, furthercomprising: controlling, by the processing, when the hotspot device andthe client device are currently camped on to the same cell of the sameRAT type on the same frequency, transmitting, from the hotspot device, aWWAN Camped-on Cell Information Request message to the client device,receiving, in response to the WWAN Camped-on Cell Information Requestmessage, from the client device a WWAN Camped on Cell InformationResponse message indicating at least one of RAT type, Cell Identity(CID), Tracking Area Identity (TAI), frequency of a channel, Public LandMobile Network Identity (PLMN ID) of the cell on which the client deviceis camped, transmitting a Cellular Broadcast Information Broadcast(CBIBOS) mode entry request from the hotspot device to the client deviceover the communication connection, and when a CBIBOS mode entryconfirmation is received from the client device at the hotspot deviceresponsive to the CBIBOS mode entry request, transmitting current SIinformation for the same cell from the hotspot device to the clientdevice, in which SI change notification processing and SI channel decodeprocessing are disabled at the client device when the client device isin the CBIBOS mode and connected to the hotspot device.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, further comprising: controlling, by the processing, when cellreselection is determined to occur in the hotspot device and the clientdevice, determining whether the hotspot device and the client device cancontinue to be in the CBIBOS mode.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein theWWAN Camped on Cell Information Response message indicates at least oneof a change-mark of a most current SI the client device has decoded. 9.The method of claim 6, further comprising: controlling, by theprocessing device, when the WWAN Camped on Cell Information Responsemessage is received from the client device at the hotspot device and adetermination at the hotspot device is an upcoming SI change or SIchange is in progress for the cell on which the client device is camped,decoding the most recent SI from the cell on which the client device iscamped after completion of the SI change and, after the decoding,determining whether the CBIBOS mode can be entered.
 10. The method ofclaim 6, further comprising: controlling, by the processing device, whenthe WWAN Camped on Cell Information Response message is received fromthe client device at the hotspot device and a determination at thehotspot device is an upcoming SI change or SI change is in progress forthe cell on which the client device is camped, without transmitting anSI message in a storage of the hotspot device, entering the CBIBOS mode,decoding an updated SI from the cell on which the client device iscamped after completion of the SI change and transmitting the updated SIto the client device.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:controlling, by the processing device, when the mobile Hotspot and theclient device are currently camped on respectively to different firstand second cells having a same Radio Access Technology (RAT) type and ona same frequency, determining whether base station broadcast systeminformation (SI) from the second cell is decodable, when the SI from thesecond cell is determined not to be decodable, transmitting a firstmessage to the client device over the communication connection thatCellular Broadcast Information Broadcast (CBIBOS) mode is not possible,and when the SI from the second cell is determined to be decodable,transmitting a second message to the client device over thecommunication connection that the CBIBOS mode is possible and current SIinformation for the second cell when there is a change in the SIinformation for the second cell and the hotspot device and the clientdevice are in the CBIBOS mode, in which SI change notificationprocessing and SI channel decode processing are disabled at the clientdevice when the client device is in the CBIBOS mode and connected to thehotspot device.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:controlling, by the processing, when cell reselection is determined tooccur in the hotspot device and the client device, determining whetherthe hotspot device and the client device can continue to be in theCBIBOS mode.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: controlling,by the processing device, when the hotspot device and the client deviceare currently camped on respectively to different first and second cellshaving a same Radio Access Technology (RAT) type and different first andsecond frequencies, determining whether base station broadcast systeminformation (SI) from the second cell is decodable with the hotspotdevice tuned to the second frequency while monitoring the firstfrequency, when the SI from the second cell is determined to be notdecodable, transmitting a first message to the client device over thecommunication connection that Cellular Broadcast Information Broadcast(CBIBOS) mode is not possible for a given client device camped on to agiven cell using a frequency other than the first frequency, and whenthe SI from the second cell is determined to be decodable, transmittinga second message to the client device over the communication connectionthat the CBIBOS mode is possible for the client device, and SIinformation broadcast from the second cell when SI information from thesecond cell is changed, in which SI change notification processing andSI channel decode processing are disabled at the client device when theclient device is in the CBIBOS mode and connected to the mobile hotspotdevice.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: controlling, bythe processing, when cell reselection is determined to occur in thehotspot device or the client device, determining whether the hotspotdevice and the client device can continue to be in the CIBOBS mode. 15.The method of claim 1, further comprising: controlling, by theprocessing device, when the mobile Hotspot and the client device arecurrently camped on respectively to different first and second cellshaving different first and second Radio Access Technology (RAT) types,determining whether the second RAT type and each frequency of the secondRAT type are supported at the hotspot device and whether SI from thesecond cell, which requires the hotspot device to tune to a given secondfrequency of the second cell while the hotspot device monitors a givenfirst frequency of the first cell tuned to the given first frequencywhile monitoring the given second frequency, is decodable at the hotspotdevice, when the SI from the second cell is determined to be notdecodable, transmitting a first message over the communicationconnection that Cellular Broadcast Information Broadcast (CBIBOS) modeis not possible for a given client device camped on to a given cellusing a RAT type other than the first RAT type, and when the SI from thesecond cell is determined to be decodable, transmitting a second messageto the client device over the communication connection that the CBIBOSmode is possible for the client device, and SI information broadcastfrom the second cell when SI information from the second cell ischanged, in which SI change notification processing and SI channeldecode processing are disabled at the client device when the clientdevice is in the CIBOBS mode and connected to the hotspot device. 16.The method of claim 15, further comprising: controlling, by theprocessing, when cell reselection is determined to occur in the hotspotdevice or the client device, determining whether the hotspot device andthe client device can continue to be in the CIBOBS mode.
 17. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: controlling, by the processing device,when a determination is the hotspot device agrees with the client deviceon monitoring and decoding base station broadcast system information(SI) for the client device, in which the client device is camped on asame or different cell from a cell on which the hotspot device is campedand using a same or different frequency or Radio Access Technology (RAT)type as the hotspot device, monitoring at the hotspot device a downlinkfor each agreed upon cell of different frequencies and RAT type.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, further comprising: controlling, by the processingdevice, deciding whether to monitor a Paging Occasion (PO) for each ofthe agreed upon cells on the same or different frequency and RAT type asthe hotspot device.
 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:controlling, by the processing device, determining at the hotspot devicePOs for all of the agreed upon cells on the same or different frequencyand RAT type to determine each non-overlapping PO which the hotspotdevice can monitor for identifying an SI change for each of the cellsagreed upon on the same or different frequency and RAT type.
 20. Themethod of claim 19, further comprising: controlling, by the processingdevice, not monitoring by the hotspot device a same PO which the clientdevice is expected to monitor in a given cell, given frequency, or givenRAT type.
 21. The method of claim 19, further comprising: controlling,by the processing device, monitoring by the hotspot device one commondefault Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle based PO per given cell,given frequency, or given RAT type.
 22. The method of claim 19, furthercomprising: controlling, by the processing device, when an overlap ingiven POs of different cells in the same or different frequencies andRAT types is determined at the hotspot device for the client device,changing a given Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle for one or morecells, frequencies, or RAT types to determine whether a change in theDRX cycle changes the POs to avoid POs overlap.
 23. The method of claim22, further comprising: controlling, by the processing device, whennon-overlapping PO for the cells of the same or different frequenciesand RAT types is not determined at the hotspot device, transmitting fromthe hotspot device a first message indicating the non-overlappingdetermination to the client and exiting Cellular Broadcast InformationBroadcast (CBIBOS) mode for the client device.
 24. The method of claim18, further comprising: controlling, by the processing device, when anoverlap with a Paging Occasion (PO) of another cell is determined basedon decoding SI for one or more of second cells of the same or differentfrequencies and RAT types, prioritizing PO decoding on each cell of thesecond cells of the same frequency and RAT type on which the hotspotdevice is camped, and for each cell of the second cells on anotherfrequency and RAT type for which the hotspot device determines anoverlap of the PO, transmitting to the client device a first messageindicating a next PO may not be decodable by the hotspot device andrequesting the client device to perform PO decode, and maintaining thehotspot device in Cellular Broadcast Information Broadcast (CBIBOS) modewith the client device.
 25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:controlling, by the processing device, when a determination at thehotspot device is the client device denied the request from the hotspotdevice for decoding the PO and to continue to be in the CBIBOS mode,exiting the CBIBOS mode with the client device.
 26. The method of claim24, further comprising: controlling, by the processing device, when anongoing SI decode is completed at the hotspot device and a determinationis a non-overlapping PO exists for one or more of second client devicesfor which the hotspot device previously exited the CBIBOS mode or couldnot enter the CBIBOS mode because of previous overlap in the PO due toSI decode, the transmitting at least one of a WAN Camped on CellInformation Request or Enter CBIBOS mode request to the one or more ofsecond client devices as a request to enter the CBIBOS mode.
 27. Themethod of claim 18, further comprising: controlling, by the processingdevice, when an overlap with the PO of another cell is determined basedon decoding SI for one or more of second cells of the same or differentfrequencies and RAT types, prioritizing PO decoding each cell of thesecond cells of other frequency and RAT type, and deferring SI decodefor each cell of the second cells camped on a frequency and RAT type ofthe hotspot device.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the deferringthe SI decode is based on a determination whether delayed decoding of SIimpacts normal operation and performance of the hotspot device.
 29. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: controlling, by the processingdevice, not monitoring Paging Occasions (PO) of cells of same ordifferent frequencies and Radio Access Technology (RAT) types by thehotspot device, in which the client device monitors PO in respectivecells thereof of the same or different frequencies and RAT types. 30.The method of claim 29, further comprising: controlling, by theprocessing device, when a first message is received at the hotspotdevice from the client device which detects change in base stationbroadcast system information (SI), notified by the network in the PO, inwhich the first message indicates change in SI in the respective cell ofthe same or different frequencies or RAT type, decoding the changed SIin the respective cell and transmitting the decoded SI to the clientdevice.
 31. The method of claim 1, further comprising: controlling, bythe processing device, when the hotspot device includes a plurality of Mreceiver/decoder circuits, decoding in parallel overlapping PagingOccasions (POs) and System Informations (SI) from a plurality of N cellsof same or different frequencies and RAT types, in which M and N are thesame or different.
 32. The method of claim 1, further comprising:controlling, by the processing device, receiving a first message fromthe client device indicating the client device exited Cellular BroadcastInformation Broadcast (CBIBOS) mode and is to start decoding at leastone of a Paging Occasion (PO) or base station broadcast systeminformation (SI) according to a normal process at the client device, inwhich the first message is transmitted when the client device is out ofrange of or disconnected from the hotspot device.
 33. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: controlling, by the processing device,exiting of a Cellular Broadcast Information Broadcast (CBIBOS) mode atany time and transmitting a third message to the client deviceindicating the exiting of the CBIBOS mode.
 34. The method of claim 1,further comprising: controlling, by the processing device, entering aCellular Broadcast Information Broadcast (CBIBOS) mode autonomously atthe hotspot device and starting broadcasting current serving cell basestation broadcast system information (SI), when a new client device isconnected to the hotspot device or the SI in the hotspot device'sserving cell is updated or changed and the updated or changed SI issuccessfully decoded by the hotspot device.
 35. The method of claim 1,further comprising: controlling, by the processing device, when thehotspot device is pre-configured with a set of cells of same ordifferent frequencies and Radio Access Technology (RAT) type for whichthe hotspot device expected to at least one of monitor or decode basestation broadcast system information (SI) change from respective cells,autonomously entering Cellular Broadcast Information Broadcast (CBIBOS)mode at the hotspot device and starting broadcasting SIs for one or moreof the pre-configured cells of the same or different frequencies and RATtypes.
 36. The method of claim 1, further comprising: controlling, bythe processing device, performing base station broadcast systeminformation (SI) broadcasting using a first application being executedin the hotspot device, in which the client device is executing a secondapplication and the first and second applications communicate through apeer to peer protocol on any logical channel of the communicationconnection.
 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the first and secondapplications are independent of the communication connection andobtained through a virtual communication port established in the hotspotdevice and the client device.
 38. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: controlling, by the processing device, creating a newphysical or logical channel as a Cellular Broadcast Information Channel(CBIC) between the hotspot device and the client device dedicated forCellular Broadcast Information Broadcast (CBIBOS) mode informationexchange.
 39. The method of claim 38, wherein the CBIC is available forexchange of cellular network information other than base stationbroadcast system information (SI) between the client device and thehotspot device.
 40. The method of claim 1, further comprising:controlling, by the processing device, when the hotspot devicebroadcasts a base station broadcast system information (SI) message,prefixing each SI message with a SI change-mark index.
 41. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the hotspot device uses a cable modem to provideinternet service while using a WWAN modem only for base stationbroadcast system information (SI) monitoring and decoding purposes. 42.The method of claim 1, further comprising: controlling, by theprocessing device, saving in a database of the hotspot device mostrecent base station broadcast system information (SI) messages decodedfor the client device from a cell on a same or different frequencies andsame or different Radio Access Technology (RAT) types as a cell on whichthe hotspot device is camped.
 43. The method of claim 42, wherein SImessages for R recent camped on or neighbor cells of the same ordifferent frequencies or RAT type SI messages are saved in the database.44. The method of claim 42, further comprising: controlling, by theprocessing device, maintaining validity of one of the stored SI messagesin the database.
 45. The method of claim 44, further comprising:controlling, by the processing device, using valid stored SI informationfor the cell of the same or different frequencies and RAT type, when thestored SI message is decoded as part of SI monitoring for another clientdevice.
 46. The method of claim 1, further comprising: controlling, bythe processing device, when the hotspot device changes a serving cellthereof due to cell selection, cell reselection, cell change or anotherprocedure, broadcasting by the hotspot device of new cell information tothe client device.
 47. The method of claim 1, further comprising:controlling, by the processing device, receiving new cell informationfrom the client device at the hotspot device, the new cell informationindicating change of serving cell at the client device due to cellselection or cell reselection or cell change or other procedure.
 48. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: controlling, by the processingdevice, when the hotspot device and the client device are in CellularBroadcast Information Broadcast (CBIBOS) mode and a cell change occursin the hotspot device or the client device and the hotspot device is notable to continue the CBIBOS mode with the client device, sending fromthe hotspot device an Exit CBIBOS mode Request to the client device andexiting the CBIBOS mode with the client device.
 49. The method of claim1, further comprising: controlling, by the processing device, when thehotspot device receives a cell change notification from the clientdevice and valid base station broadcast system information (SI) for anewly notified cell of same or different frequencies and RAT type isstored at the hotspot device, immediately sending the valid SIinformation to the client device.
 50. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: controlling, by the processing device, when the hotspotdevice and the client device are in the Cellular Broadcast InformationBroadcast (CBIBOS) mode and based on a change in a Paging Occasion (PO)to be monitored for a serving cell of the hotspot device when thehotspot device is not able to continue the CBIBOS mode with the clientdevice, sending an Exit CBIBOS mode Request to the client device andexiting the CBIBOS mode with the client device.
 51. The method of claim1, further comprising: controlling, by the processing device, receivingat the hotspot device a first message from the client device indicatinga changed default Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle or paging cycledetected at the client device.
 52. The method of claim 51, furthercomprising: controlling, by the processing device, processing aselective list of base station broadcast system information (SI)messages received from a serving cell of the client device, to obtainthe changed default DRX cycle or paging cycle in the serving cell of theclient device and adopting Paging Occasion (PO) monitoring for theserving cell of the client device according to an updated PO.
 53. Themethod of claim 52, further comprising: controlling, by the processingdevice, when the PO for the serving cell of the client device is changedto a new PO and the hotspot device cannot continue to monitor the new PObecause of overlap in PO, sending an Exit CBIBOS mode Request” to theclient device and exiting the CBIBOS mode with the client device.
 54. Anapparatus for communication of Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN)broadcast information in a wireless communication network, the apparatuscomprising: circuitry configured to control: transmitting a first WWANbroadcast information message from a hotspot device, over acommunication connection, to a client device, and receiving, at thehotspot device, over the communication connection, a second WWANbroadcast information message transmitted from the client device,responsive to the first WWAN broadcast information message, wherein thefirst and second WWAN broadcast information messages indicate first andsecond WWAN capabilities respectively of the hotspot device and theclient device, and in which the communication connection is a ShortRange Wireless Link (SRWL) or a wired connection.
 55. A wirelesscommunication device comprising: a receiver to receive a signal of awireless communication system; and a processing device configured tocontrol communication of Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) broadcastinformation in a wireless communication network, wherein the processingdevice is configured to control: transmitting a first WWAN broadcastinformation message from the wireless communication device as a hotspotdevice, over a communication connection, to a client device, andreceiving, at the wireless communication device, over the communicationconnection, a second WWAN broadcast information message transmitted fromthe client device, responsive to the first WWAN broadcast informationmessage, wherein the first and second WWAN broadcast informationmessages indicate first and second WWAN capabilities respectively of thewireless communication device and the client device, and in which thecommunication connection is a Short Range Wireless Link (SRWL) or awired connection.